Welcome to Litsy!

Finished this at the end of March for April‘s mystery/thriller book club meeting. The reason that it‘s a pick for me is the ending which was great. But it did seem tedious at times while reading. It seemed repetitive & there was so much description. This was the 1st of the author‘s that I‘ve read even though I have her other 2 books bc the premises seemed so interesting. If you‘re reading this just stick with it & the end is the payoff.

#18
Not a bad book to listen to...listened to better ones

#Bkmentionedinbk #ittakesallkinds
I read this over the weekend and just had to stop to capture this perfect passage about books/reading. I need to frame it, it's that good.
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

March 25, 2024 Close to done with the book. I would recommend it. But first read the first one. Then this one. I think out of the two, her third book is the best. Each page keeps getting better and better... enough said HAHA

March 23, 2024 Oooooooooo Levi is in trouble!!! Margot thinks that Levi was in the house on Halloween. Instead of going inside the claustrophobic cave, he went straight into the house. Nicole, Trevor's gf, was sitting on the couch. Nicole was already afraid of Levi... Levi knew that a single slip of the tongue about him coming into our house uninvited, was not wanted, so maybe he had run to her, stopping her, while her nails scratched his chest.

March 23, 2024 Im back folks!!! Now I have reached page 166... and man oh man.. is the story nearing the climax of the book. Lucy says, "You're going to have to learn to ignore him." Margot replies, "It's not that easy." Lucy states, "Why not?" Margot responds, "I don't know." Being around him just makes me feel guilty." "Because of Eliza?" she asks, and for a second, I forget to breathe, hearing Eliza's name on her lips for the very first time...

March 23, 2024 Hello, Hey, Hi, How is it goin'? Just poppin in to say hi and that the book is getting very scary and yea... HAHA

March 22, 2024 I have reached page 122 and it seems like Lucy is obsessed over the idea of killing someone: Nicole, Sloane, maybe Margot. As a matter of fact, Margot keeps repeating the fact that Eliza and Lucy have so much in common. Margot talks with Sloane and asks her what she thinks about Lucy. Sloane concludes that Margot is "wasting her breath" trying to figure out who Lucy really is.

March 20, 2024 Not halfway through the book and it is already starting to reach a suspenseful part. Margot loses Eliza, who she was close friends with due to being around Levi Butler, who she met at a Fraternity house. She, Eliza, and him would hang out but now she is trying to figure out why Levi did what he did...

The ending of this novel was such a shock and felt like 5 stars, but the rest of the novel wasn‘t as compelling. I kept reading because it was just quirky enough and I thought it would pick up, which it did. Friends with deadly secrets, murder, college, frats, violence, there‘s a lot to unpack. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Been waiting to start this! My hold became available from the library and I couldn‘t wait to start 🤓

March 4, 2024 Behold! The third book by Stacy Willingham. Other books by her are: A Flicker in the Dark and All The Dangerous Things. I went to Books Inc today and saw her second book in paperback but I decided not to get it. It was a tough decision and ALL hardcover books tend to be $30.00 easy. So I told myself to just buy this one... WHICH I AM NOT MAD ABOUT. Will let you know my thoughts on this thriller

Just …. Wow!!

This is very possibly the least thrilling “thriller” I‘ve ever read! When is something going to happen? I‘m done. [bailed @ 30%]

My #BOTM picks for February. Both usual auto pick authors, so I'm excited to start these.

https://www.mybotm.com/phuw7esbgwl5l8fr?show_box=true

4.5⭐Okay…so the ending may have ventured into something unbelievable…& yet, I was still there for it, mostly anyway. There was 1 reveal towards the end that I couldn‘t quite get with…but other than that, this rocked. While this isn‘t my fav book of hers, her way of storytelling does resonate with me so, therefore, I will always recommend her work. The narration by Karissa Vacker made this slow-burn thriller feel like it wasn‘t a slow-burn at all.

#3 of 2024! Book release night (1/16/24) #interabangbooks #stacywillingham
Started: 1/21/24
Finished: 2/3/24
14 Days

Hmmm, the twists in this were interesting but the single POV of 19 yo Margot was tedious. Including the POV of Lucy would have made this a more interesting read.

Not my favorite by this author

https://reecaspieces.com/2024/01/18/only-if-youre-lucky-by-stacey-willingham-mac...

This a mystery novel about a group of friends and all the secrets they keep hidden. Before long all those secrets are going to come out and someone will end up dead. I really enjoyed this book. I thought the mystery kept me reading and wanting more after every page. I‘ve read all of Stacy Willingham‘s novels so far and I will continue to read her future novels.
Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this novel.

Now Available! 🥳🎉📚

Book Review- https://www.boleybooks.com//only-if-youre-lucky/

#boleybooks #onlyifyourelucky #stacywillingham #NetGalley #pubday #bookreview #bookbuds

Set on a college campus, we follow roommates, who live in a house connected to a frat house.

Margot is the narrator and used to be a very responsible girl until she met up with Lucy, Nicole, and Sloane. Lucy was especially poisonous.

It was not a book that I wanted to get back to. The college antics simply dragged. A dark read. 2/5

Not a favorite as you can tell, but loved her book ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS.

http://tinyurl.com/ypbkdeeh

This author wrote All The Dangerous Things and A Flicker in the Dark. Both excellent books. I could not pick between the two which was my favorite. This one is not quite as good. Sadly to me it left me asking a few questions.

Full review: http://tinyurl.com/2j3sr3yb

@stacyvwillingham
@stmartinspress
@netgalley

Although these arrived in 2024, I‘m deciding they don‘t count as buying a new book this year since I paid for them in 2023. #mtTBR #ReadAway2024

Here‘s my review for a book I DNF‘d. I don‘t like slow burn thrillers. This is a slow burn thriller. If it takes too long for the thriller aspect of the thriller to kick in then I won‘t keep reading. However, I‘ll still try reading her other books and seeing if they‘re for me.

Release Date: 1/16/24

#netgalley #netgalleyarc #hailthebail

Here‘s my progress for this book. I tried to get on StoryGraph to update my reading progress for my January Pages Challenge but when I opened up the app, I ended up with a blank screen. I wasn‘t having a problem with StoryGraph before but now, I am. I‘ve decided that I‘m going to bail on this book. I‘m not feeling it. I was approved for this book on Netgalley but I won‘t provide feedback for it on Netgalley. This is my first book by this author.

I was approved for the ebook and audiobook ARCs for this book on Netgalley. I decided to listen to the audiobook instead. This book is set on a college campus. I‘m not feeling this book. The characters in this book are college students but they seem very immature and they‘re kind of annoying. This is supposed to be a thriller. Maybe the thriller aspect of the book comes later, I don‘t know but if so, I don‘t like slow burn thrillers.

I feel like such a negative Nancy over my last few books, each one striking my pet peeve nerves.

The sad thing is, the story itself is good. The suspense and mystery part actually had me interested and glued to finding out the truths, but the repetitiveness/rehashing of thoughts and scenes and constant cliffhanger chapters made it difficult to stay focused as I skimmed a lot in order to get back to the meat of the story.

Yay! I requested these audiobooks last night and I was approved today. That was quick. I was approved for the ebook for Only If You‘re Lucky but I was approved for the audiobook too. That will help me read it faster. I‘ve never read Emma Lord or Stacy Willingham but I‘ve read B.A. Paris before.

Release dates for these books:

Only If You‘re Lucky - 1/15/24
The Getaway List - 1/22/24
The Guest - 2/19/24

I forgot to post this. I received an email the other day from Minotaur Books saying that I have another book to read on Netgalley. They accepted my request for this book.

Tackle the TBR 🤓📚
What are you reading?
#boleybooks #onlyifyourelucky #stacywillingham #bookbeast #bookbuds #netgalley #bookchat

I love books about girls in college and this was a good one! Margot lost her best friend to a tragic accident before going off to school but is grateful when popular Lucy invites her to live with her and a few other girls before sophomore year. And let the “fun” begin! Frat boys, beach parties, alcohol…what could be better? Um… murder?
#NetGalley